The Book Cow are proud to announce that the Rainbow Holstein Book Club will be hosting the Canberra launch of Queer speculative YA fiction anthology, An Unexpected Party.

Co-published by Get YA Words Out and edited by Seth Malacari, An Unexpected Party brings together the stories of emerging authors from the LGBTQIA+ community.

From fantastical realms to real-world struggles, this anthology champions queer identity by challenging stereotypes and exploring the many facets of identity. Written with wit, heart and honesty, these stories take queer protagonists outside the box of young adult romance and centre them at the heart of stories that involve magic, paranormal beings and adventure.

Featuring trans and gender-diverse voices – asexual, aromantic, bisexual and more – the stories in An Unexpected Party are as diverse as their writers.

We are being joined by local contributing authors; Lin Blythe, A.R. Henderson and Alistair Ott who will discuss their contributions to this new release.

About Lin Blythe: Lin Blythe is a proud spec-fic writer, a Eurasian/ABC and asexual woman. Her writing has been published in Overland online magazine, Left Turn on Red Permitted After Stopping: UTS Writers’ Anthology 2022, Moon Orchard and the Heroines Anthology: Vol. 4. Since completing her Bachelor of Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney, Lin has written about her Malaysian Chinese family’s intergenerational trauma, as it seems to help her heal. She hopes her stories tear down the wall of complacency, crush othering and encourage readers to fight for justice and peace.

About A.R. Henderson: A.R. Henderson is a writer, editor, and researcher working on Ngunnawal country. They completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra, where they studied LGBTQIA+ representation in young adult literature. Way back in 2012 they were a finalist in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Writer of the Year competition. Their short stories have appeared in literary magazines such as SWAMP and #EnbyLife. You can find all their work in a nice, neat pile at arhendersonwrites.com

About Alistair Ott: Alistair Ott (they/he) is a Wiradjuri Queer artist. Born on Gundungurra and raised on Ngunnawal Land, they were taught Dreamtime stories and their family’s language and culture from their Ngama and Mudyigang. These stories, his time on country with mob and family, and his queer community inspire his writing; these are the spaces where his spirit resides. When they aren’t writing, Alistair spends their time working in LGBTIQA+ community services and on their PhD at the Australian National University. You can find Alistairs work on their website - www.alistairott.com

This discussion styled event will be hosted by our staff, with questions and contributions from guests.

Book Club is FREE.

Attendees get 10% off any book purchase that evening.